Post navigation

Magic Origins Brews, pt. 10 – The Mandatory Monoblack

Dromoka’s Command and Back to Nature is going to be a problem for this deck, because this deck is going to use plenty of enchantments, but who cares? Its monoblack.

First, we need a curve or sorts. There’s one 1-drop that’s an easy choice: Bloodsoaked Champion. Others… not so much. Not that you need any. This format is slow, and you aren’t trying to kill fast, so its just a good, resilient threat, like many of the other cards in the deck.

Other creatures we might want? For 2-drops, the Despoiler of Souls is a good start, but I’d like to play some Pain Seers as well. Sure, this is going to hurt against burn and other fast decks, but we’ll have lifegain, so no problem there.

For 3-drops Liliana is nice, but we’ll need more. Probably Herald of Torment. I love that card. Its just pretty bad right now, at least in my home meta.

For sideboard, maybe a few lands (so that you can take out the painful draw and not lose because you can’t draw lands. Probably a somewhat transformative approach couldn’t hurt either. We have plenty of lifegain already, so you don’t probably need any of that. Some discard for control decks would be nice too.

3 thoughts on “Magic Origins Brews, pt. 10 – The Mandatory Monoblack”

I don’t understand you saying this format is slow, it is indeed super fast. In standard you will be seeing mono red turn 5 kills, as well with an abzan aggro turn 6 consistently. To keep up, need more 1 drops like ruthless ripper and thoughtsieze, 2 drops like fetid imp out of origins I really like that card. Herald of torment is ok, I would switch for master of the feast but both have their place. Gray merchant is good, but mogis marauder is better and again both have their place. With this release of origins, ultimate price will be a 4 of in this deck, because I believe every color now has the potential for a deadly standard deck.

Sure, there are decks that can goldfish a very fast kill, but from where I stand, the format seems very atrition-based. Of course, my local meta might be skewing my perceptions. After the release, Goblins will be very popular, because Goblins are popular, but that will be the shortcoming of that deck. Its very easy to fight against, so everyone will be ready for it.

Master of the Feast does have the benefit of being hard to kill with red, damage-based removal, but the drawback is just too much against quite a few decks. I think its more of a sideboard card or a card you’ll board out quite often.

Playing more three-drops like Mogis’s Marauder will probably make the curve quite awkward. I’m not sure about the Liliana, though. I’d love to see her do something awesome, but I’m not sure this is the right deck for her.